A litany of missed chances left a psychotic Valdo Calocane free to roam a city before he knifed three people to death and tried to kill three more.
The 32-year-old paranoid schizophrenic had been in and out of a mental health hospital for more than three years and a warrant was out for his arrest when his killing spree brought terror to Nottingham last summer.
The NHS, police, university officials and even his employer missed at least eight opportunities to deal with the 32-year-old before he ‘brutally and mercilessly’ killed first-year university students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19.
He then ‘calmly’ walked across the city to ambush and kill school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, as he travelled to work. Flatmates described Calocane as a ‘ticking timebomb’ and gave him the nickname ‘serial killer’ because of the loner’s unstable nature.
As he was ordered to be detained in a high security hospital for ‘very probably’ the rest of his life, the families of his victims stood outside court and proclaimed the authorities have ‘blood on your hands’ and demanded answers.
After the court accepted Calocane’s guilty plea of to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, it emerged his disturbing behaviour repeatedly brought him to the attention of the authorities, with him even being sectioned at least four times.
Yet he was continually released into the community – where he stopped taking his medication and posed an increasing danger. Calocane had also been wanted by police, for attacking an officer, for almost a year by the time of the killings in June last year.
One young woman was so terrified after being followed into her university accommodation that she jumped out of a window to escape. She is said to have suffered severe injuries requiring surgery as a result, while Calocane was eventually sectioned.
The woman’s mother was said to be so concerned she is believed to have contacted the university about Calocane, but he was allowed to continue his mechanical engineering studies at Nottingham University.
Another incident saw Calocane assault and then trap a flatmate in their kitchen in a row over a dirty shower.
It was claimed the university had urged police not to charge Calacone over the matter, and he was moved out of the accommodation. The university declined to comment on the ongoing case.
It is also understood he attacked two colleagues at the warehouse where he worked, and was banned from the premises.
At a previous court hearing, Calocane’s own defence barrister, Peter Joyce KC, said his client had been taken to mental health facilities by police several times due to his ‘extremely odd… bizarre, dangerous behaviour’, adding: ‘He ought to have been under the eye of mental health services.’
Calocane was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia three years before last summer’s rampage, which also saw him mow down three pedestrians with the van he stole from Mr Coates.
In between his diagnosis and the attack, the killer even visited MI5’s London headquarters and demanded they stop ‘controlling him’.
During the sentencing hearing, the judge had to call for a brief pause as prosecutor Karim Khalil KC struggled to contain his emotions as he outlined the severity of the attack on Grace and Barnaby as they walked home from a night out to celebrate the end of their first year.
The court heard that after spotting the students walking along the city’s Ilkeston Road, the killer took a double-sided dagger from his bag and followed them.
Mr Khalil said the ‘deliberate’ and ‘devastating violence’ he inflicted was captured on CCTV, and described how Grace demonstrated ‘incredible bravery’ to try to fight Calocane off Barnaby, before he ‘turned his attention to her’. Both ended up collapsed on the ground before Calocane then ‘calmly walked away’, the court heard.
During the two-minute attack, residents who were alerted by Grace’s screams began dialling 999. One man reported ‘an awful, blood-curdling scream’, while another heard Grace shouting ‘Don’t do it! Don’t do it!’ before Calocane turned to attack her.
Police and paramedics arrived at the scene and the two friends were taken to hospital, but could not be saved. The court heard that Grace had suffered stab wounds to 23 areas of her body, while Barnaby had been knifed around ten areas of his body. Both died from stab wounds.
Shortly afterwards, bearded Calocane – dressed all in black – was caught on camera trying to break in through a bedroom window at a homeless hostel in Alexandra Park, a mile-and-a-half away.
Resident Trevor Proverb, 59, told how he fended Calocane off with a ‘right-hook’ after he jumped on to the window ledge.
Mr Coates was then fatally stabbed nearby – just five months short of his retirement – before his Vauxhall Vivaro was used to mow down Wayne Birkett, Marcin Gawronski and Sharon Miller. Calocane was stopped at the wheel soon afterwards and arrested.
He pleaded guilty in November to the manslaughter of medical student Grace, a talented hockey player who had represented England, and Barnaby, a talented cricketer who played for the university team, along with Mr Coates, a keen angler.
The defendant, who graduated from Nottingham a year earlier, also admitted the attempted murder of the three pedestrians. But he denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
The court heard that psychiatrists for the prosecution and defence were in agreement Calocane was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the offences resulting in ‘an inability to exercise full control.’
Speaking on the steps outside Nottingham Crown Court after the sentencing hearing concluded, Emma said the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) only met with the bereaved families on November 24.
She said: ‘We were presented with a fait accompli that the decision had been made to accept manslaughter charges. At no point during the previous five-and-a-half-months were we given any indication that this could conclude in anything other than murder.
‘We trusted in our system, foolishly as it turns out. We do not dispute that the murderer is mentally unwell and has been for a number of years.
‘However the pre-mediated planning, the collection of lethal weapons, hiding in the shadows and brutality of the attacks are that of an individual who knew exactly what he was doing. He knew entirely that it was wrong but he did it anyway.’
Addressing Nottinghamshire Police’s assistant chief constable Rob Griffin, the bereaved mother said: ‘If you had just done your jobs properly, there’s a very good chance our beautiful boy would be alive today.
‘There is so much more to say and clearly serious questions regarding this case and events leading up to this monster being out in society.
‘But for today, our darling son, his dear friend Grace, and a wonderfully kind grandfather Ian have been stolen from us forever and let down by the very system that should have been protecting them.’
Ian’s son James called for the services and organisations involved to be made accountable for failings in the case.
He said: ‘My family has suffered a great loss. The children who my father had a positive impression on have suffered a great loss.
‘The city of Nottingham has suffered a great loss. The failures from the police, the CPS, the health service have resulted in the murder of my father and these two innocent students.
‘The NHS mental health trusts have to be held accountable for their failures along with the police.
‘All we can do is hope that in due course some sort of justice will be served. This man has made a mockery of the system and he has got away with murder.’
Meanwhile, Grace’s father said his family would ‘forever’ troubled by the ‘missed opportunities’ to potentially prevent the attack.
Dr Sanjoy Kumar said: ‘While we have never questioned this man’s diagnosis, the lack of toxicology, contemporaneous mental health assessment, as well as missed opportunities to divert his lethal path will forever play on our minds and this requires further review.
‘We will look for answers regarding missed opportunities to intervene and prevent this horrendous crime.’
Families’ anger at handling of killer’s case
Here are the statements of the families of the three victims killed by Valdo Calocane, as read outside court:
Barnaby Webber
In a statement read outside court after sentencing, Barnaby Webber’s mother Emma Webber said: ‘True justice has not been served today.
‘We as a devastated family have been let down by multiple agency failings and ineffectiveness. The CPS did not consult with us, as has been reported. Instead, we have been rushed, hastened and railroaded.
‘The first meeting we had with them, at our behest, was Friday November 24, a few short days before the pre-trial plea hearing on the 28th. For the record, they had suggested that we actually meet them on that very morning, which we clearly thought wasn’t enough time.
‘We were presented with a fait accompli. That decision had been made to accept manslaughter charges, we were horrified.
‘At no point during the previous five and a half months were we given any indication that this could conclude in anything other than murder.
‘We trusted in our system – foolishly, as it turns out.
‘We do not dispute that the murderer is mentally unwell and has been for a number of years.
‘However, the premeditated planning, the collection of lethal weapons, hiding in the shadows, and the brutality of the attacks are of an individual who knew exactly what he was doing. He knew entirely that it was wrong but he did it anyway.
‘This has been a trial by doctors. Why was there no mental health assessment during his time in custody? Why was it the first time he had any assessment in mid-July for the defence report only? Why did he not begin to receive treatment till mid-September? And why did he remain in prison until November 1?
‘Importantly, why did Dr Blackwood, instructed by the CPS in August, wait until November 14 to interview and assess him? So many questions.
‘To Nottingham Police, we additionally have grave concerns regarding aspects of this investigation.
‘Why were we repeatedly told through the summer that the offender was a sofa surfer and had no real abode? Not true. He did. One that was registered in his name in Nottingham, and one that he had been in for six months prior to his eviction on only June 11 last year. Why?
‘It took repeated questioning from us to finally receive an answer late last Friday afternoon to the question of his outstanding warrant, issued September 2022, for a vicious attack on a police officer. Such a violent assault that he was Tasered.
‘To the Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin, who finally released this information publicly yesterday, I say this: you have blood on your hands.
‘If you had just done your jobs properly, there’s a very good chance my beautiful boy would be alive today.
‘There is so much more to say and clearly serious questions regarding this case and events leading up to this monster being out in society.
‘But for today, our darling son, his dear friend Grace, and a wonderfully kind grandfather Ian, have been stolen from us forever and let down by the very system that should have been protecting them.’
Grace O’Malley-Kumar
Grace’s father, Dr Sanjoy Kumar, said the families would regroup to consider their next steps in the hunt for answers to questions about police, CPS and NHS failings.
He said: ‘We will never come to terms with the loss of our beloved daughter Grace and how she lost her life.
‘Her heroic actions means she was the gift to us. And she was the gift of the country. We’d like to thank our wonderful family from London and Ireland, and all of our friends for their continued love and support.
‘Whilst we have never questioned this man’s diagnosis, the lack of toxicology, contemporaneous mental health assessment, as well as missed opportunities to divert his lethal path, will forever play on our minds and this requires further review.
‘We will look for answers regarding missed opportunities to intervene and prevent this horrendous crime.
‘Thank you.’
When asked by a reporter what happens next, he said: ‘I think we all regroup. We’ve been through absolute hell for the last few days. And exactly as Emma said, we regroup and we find a path going forward.’
Ian Coates
Mr Coates’ son James Coates said Calocane had ‘got away with murder’.
He said: ‘My heart from the very beginning has gone out to the families of Grace and Barnaby. It will continue to go out to them, as we all now share an anniversary every June that will never be celebrated. They are the definition of strength and unity.
‘My heart also goes out to Wayne Birkett, Marcin Gawronski and Sharon Miller, victims that have also been affected by this heinous crime.
‘The letter of the law was once considered the most important rule to live and abide by, put upon us to make the country a fairer and safer place.
‘Now they’re just a cautionary tale where the calculated cold brutal killing spree can be reduced down to something that falls within the same sentence and restrictions and guidelines as that of death by dangerous driving.
‘If this man was not stopped when he was, this could have been one of the most catastrophic of attacks this country had ever seen.
‘This man is a killer. Murder was the only thing he cared about. And he fulfilled this in horrific fashion on Tuesday June 13 last year. My family has suffered a great loss.
‘The children who my father had a positive impression on have suffered a great loss. The city of Nottingham has suffered a great loss.
‘The failures from the police, the CPS, the health service have resulted in the murder of my father and these two innocent students.
‘The NHS mental health trusts have to be held accountable for their failures along with the police.
‘All we can do is hope that in due course some sort of justice will be served.
‘This man has made a mockery of the system and he has got away with murder.’
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Andy Dolan
